Gnade Esperanza
The Gnade Esperanza is a car made by Gnade, first appearing in Rage Racer. Design and performance The Esperanza first appears in Rage Racer as the player's first car, and the only Grade 1 car available in game. The Esperanza takes cues of European boxy luxury sedans of early nineties such as the BMW M3 (E30 and E36 generations) and Alfa Romeo 155 as well as their Japanese contemporaries such as the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4. The car's body have touring car aesthetic to it, starting out as a Supertouring-specification car in early three classes and evolving to DTM-style bodykit in fourth and fifth grade, where the resemblance to Alfa Romeo 155 is more visible. As the player's first car, the car has a well-balanced handling and speed, enough to take the opposition in Grade 1. This particular design was carried over to Gnade Dignistar years later, with the Esperanza nameplate switching to a sportier look in later years. From Ridge Racer (PSP) onwards, the Esperanza was dramatically changed to a more curvy bubble-top look reminiscent of an Audi TT (or perhaps even the Audi Rosemeyer concept car) and is positioned as mid-end, mild-drift cars in the later games. The car received a facelift in Ridge Racer 6 to further make the similarity closer. However, in both the Ridge Racer (PSP) ''and ''Ridge Racer 6 incarnations, despite it being front-engined, the rear section is somewhat long enough to be mistaken for a mid-engined car, and that the body is also even wide enough to determine, in which the Esperanza could also potentially resemble an Audi R8 (most front-engined sports cars follow the "short deck, long nose" design principle). Unlike the Audi TT, the Esperanza is still a rear-wheel drive car and uses a straight-six engine instead of an V6 engine and all-wheel drive. This specification is called Gnade Erstlanze in Ridge Racer Slipstream, where the car has Dynamic handling instead. Performance chart ''Rage Racer'' The upgrade chart for all the car's available configurations in Rage Racer. * All maximum speed numbers correspond to the car when driven with manual transmission. Please note that not all cars in Rage Racer can be equipped with automatic transmission. * The price that appears in the first row indicates the car purchase price from the car shop. All other prices are prices for upgrading the car. * All versions of Rage Racer uses ps (metric horsepower) as unit of power. * Data taken from rr-ken.net (Japanese only), except for top speeds, which is taken from Sal_89's GameFAQs entry. Ridge Racer 6 ''Ridge Racer 2'' (PSP) The car's maximum speeds from all the car's available configurations in Ridge Racer 2 for PSP. Gallery IMG_34956.png|Erstlanze in Ridge Racer Slipstream front view IMG_34945.png|Erstlanze in Ridge Racer Slipstream rear view Rage Racer Esperanza C1.png|The Esperanza in Rage Racer, Class 1 specification. The player begins with this car. Rage Racer Esperanza C2.png|The Esperanza in Rage Racer, Class 2 specification, with new front bumper and rear wing. Rage Racer Esperanza C3.png|The Esperanza in Rage Racer, Class 3 specification, featuring a different rear wing, but otherwise visually similar to Class 2 spec. Rage Racer Esperanza C4.png|The Esperanza in Rage Racer, Class 4 specification, featuring a DTM-style bodywork not dissimilar to Alfa Romeo 155 DTM. Rage Racer Esperanza C5.png|The Esperanza in Rage Racer, Class 5 specification, with a Le Mans GT1 bodywork-style, similar to Nismo Skyline GTR LM. Trivia * Esperanza is Spanish for "hope". * The Rage Racer incarnation of the Esperanza in Grade 1 specification may probably have the lowest horsepower output of any car in the series. * If listened to at night, the radio host in We Ski, another title by Bandai Namco Games for the Wii console, mentions a Gnade Esperanza having been left with its headlights on. Category:Ridge Racer cars Category:Ridge Racer 6 cars Category:Ridge Racer 7 cars